New infectious diseases will continue to emerge
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《英国医生杂志》
Dozens of new infectious diseases are likely to emerge over the next 25 years unless humans acquire an ecological perspective on infectious diseases rather than seeing microbes as simply an invading entity that should be blindly attacked with antibiotics or used as a tool for biological warfare, a conference was told last week.
Professor Tony McMichael, of the Australian National University, Canberra, said that the emergence and spread of 35 new or newly diagnosed infectious diseases in the past 25 years was a product of our modern way of life.
The rise in international travel, overcrowded cities, intensive food production, sexual practices, poverty, and global warming were some of the ingredients that had come together to form a suitable culture medium for the emergence, maintenance, and spread of new infectious diseases, as well as allowing the resurgence of older diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, and malaria, he said.
Speaking at the Royal Society conference last week, convened to explore the factors influencing emerging infectious diseases, Professor McMichael cited hepatitis C as an example of a disease born from sociotechnological change. "The advent of illicit intravenous drug use and blood transfusion has allowed the wider spread, and now recognition, of this virus," he said.
Professor McMichael discussed the many diverse factors that influenced the emergence of infectious diseases. He spoke of the impact of the massive increase in international travel that had allowed the spread of new diseases such as HIV and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on an unprecedented scale.
The way in which humans had changed their environment had also influenced the spread of disease. Developments in agriculture, urbanisation, and deforestation had all changed ecosystems and allowed the emergence of infections. Lyme disease, a disease spread by ticks, was first identified in 1976, in the United States. Forest fragmentation, loss of predators, and the shift of suburbia closer to woodlands were all implicated in the appearance of this disease.
Another example was the Nipah virus. In 1999 this virus killed 100 people in peninsular Malaysia. The virus was normally carried by the forest fruit bat and had not previously seemed to pass to humans. However, because of deforestation and agricultural techniques the bat抯 normal habitat and food source were changed. This forced the bats to encroach into fruit plantations, which were in close proximity to pig farms. The bats infected the pigs which in turn infected the farmers.
Professor McMichael concluded by emphasising the need to acquire an ecological perspective on infectious diseases. "In the 1970s, eminent people were saying it was the end of the infectious disease era. We now find after the experience of the 1980s and 1990s, we are sadder and wiser."(London Debashis Singh)
Professor Tony McMichael, of the Australian National University, Canberra, said that the emergence and spread of 35 new or newly diagnosed infectious diseases in the past 25 years was a product of our modern way of life.
The rise in international travel, overcrowded cities, intensive food production, sexual practices, poverty, and global warming were some of the ingredients that had come together to form a suitable culture medium for the emergence, maintenance, and spread of new infectious diseases, as well as allowing the resurgence of older diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, and malaria, he said.
Speaking at the Royal Society conference last week, convened to explore the factors influencing emerging infectious diseases, Professor McMichael cited hepatitis C as an example of a disease born from sociotechnological change. "The advent of illicit intravenous drug use and blood transfusion has allowed the wider spread, and now recognition, of this virus," he said.
Professor McMichael discussed the many diverse factors that influenced the emergence of infectious diseases. He spoke of the impact of the massive increase in international travel that had allowed the spread of new diseases such as HIV and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on an unprecedented scale.
The way in which humans had changed their environment had also influenced the spread of disease. Developments in agriculture, urbanisation, and deforestation had all changed ecosystems and allowed the emergence of infections. Lyme disease, a disease spread by ticks, was first identified in 1976, in the United States. Forest fragmentation, loss of predators, and the shift of suburbia closer to woodlands were all implicated in the appearance of this disease.
Another example was the Nipah virus. In 1999 this virus killed 100 people in peninsular Malaysia. The virus was normally carried by the forest fruit bat and had not previously seemed to pass to humans. However, because of deforestation and agricultural techniques the bat抯 normal habitat and food source were changed. This forced the bats to encroach into fruit plantations, which were in close proximity to pig farms. The bats infected the pigs which in turn infected the farmers.
Professor McMichael concluded by emphasising the need to acquire an ecological perspective on infectious diseases. "In the 1970s, eminent people were saying it was the end of the infectious disease era. We now find after the experience of the 1980s and 1990s, we are sadder and wiser."(London Debashis Singh)